*This will be the first of my comparisons between ship classes from different universes, I will do more in future based off of the reception I get, be sure to leave suggestions for future comparisons and feedback on how well the comparison went

Imperial I ISD

Lore:This was warship was initially designed by Lira Wessex for the Galactic Republic in 22 BBY and saw very limited production at the Kuat Drive Yards as they where deemed too expensive and largely pointless ships for the Republic's requirements, and so very few existed by that time seeing very little service. However, not long after the first Imperial I's appeared, palpatine took over and created the Galactic Empire; seeing a rapid expansion in the construction lines and demand for the new ISDs.

The ISD was the largest class of warship produced by the Republic at 1.6 Kilometres (one mile long) and filled the role of a battleship for the Republic Navy, it's sole design purpose being to engage and destroy even the largest enemy vessels and deliver devastating Orbital strikes in support of clone troops on the ground.With the Empire it is a mid-sized vessel that was the mainstay of their fleet, an icon of Imperial power, they filled a similar role as they did for the republic: but is also a military transport and peace-keeper-Battleships through fear. ISDs are produced in massive numbers, enough being ordered and built that planets are striped of all their resources to feed the Imperial production lines.

Lore:This warship has serviced the Imperium for many millennia, coming into wide service and replacing the old Murder and Emasculaor Class cruisers in M38 and M39. These warships are the absolute backbone of the Imperial navy. They combine powerful lances, Macro Cannons and Torpedoes on heavily armoured and versatile chassis: filling every role in the service of Imperial and Rouge Trader service from armoured battering ram to cargo hauler. The ship is also Nova Cannon equipable, as well as having advanced fire co-ordination allowing it to fill flagship duties adding to its impressive versatility; although very typical in respects to armour, speed and size (5 Km long).

Its for this very versatility (and relatively easy and well understood construction) that the Lunar Class is so numerous in the Imperial Navy. Six hundred are known to operate in Battlefleet Obscurus alone, and twenty are known to have taken major roles in the Gothic War before the Dictator Class Cruisers outnumbered them. Although they are large in number, and humble in armour, size and armaments compared to other Imperial warships; they are not to be trifled with. The Lunar Class can be credited with the destruction of countless warships, including many battleships and even the Planet killer: thier weapons being more than capable of felling even the largest of foes.

Armaments: In terms of raw output a Macro Cannon or Lance is 2-5x more powerful than Heavy Turbo Laser or Ion Cannon and many magnitudes more powerful than lighter weapons on the ISD: but the ISD possesses far more of them, making them roughly equals (despite the size difference) in terms of raw Primary weapon fire-power. But the range differences are vast. The main difference in weapons fire-power is in point defence weapons, the Lunar's secondary weapons used for defending against strike craft total out at about a third of the ISDs total fire-power in raw power output (their only limitation being suffocatingly short range, much like the ISD's Primarys).The Imperial I has carrier capacity, but (as mentioned) the Lunar is more than capable of defending herself against all but the very heaviest of strike craft threats, so this provides no edge for the Imperial.The Lunar also gets torps to which the ISD has no answer, and the Nova Cannon is easily capable of overpowering and destroying whole groups of ISD from beyond their range: the Nova Cannon and Vortex torps rendering the comparison pointless as their is no comparison in raw destructive potential in either case, the Nova Cannon alone having a Kinetic yield (just kinetic yield, not including the power of the explosion or heat radiation from it) of 90,000,000,000 petajoules. Enough that the engines of the ship must be powered fully to counteract the recoil force of the muzzle blast (in a Vacuum!), many times what is required to destroy an ISD, capable of taking chunks out of a shielded SSD even. So this goes to the Lunar.

Combat speed: simply put that there is no comparison here. The difference is just silly: ISDs don't even do 1 c while in combat, while Lunars cruise at 2-5 c during combat. Clear Lunar victory.

Durability: Much of the Lunars models are not on display, being hidden within the ship and armoured heavily both internally and externally. While the ISD is heavily armoured by Star Wars standards, much of its models (including its sheild generators) are on display and not even close to being armoured enough to resist a lance strike or Macro Cannon shell.Although the shielding on the ISD is generally superior going by raw calcs, void shields being only more effective vs projectile weapons (which the ISD doesn't possess). So this is a draw, only because of the powerful shields the ISD possess and the lack of projectile weapons in its arsenal.

Comparison outside of combat

Both ships are the backbone of their respective fleets and both can fill multiple roles, but ultimately the Lunar is for more versatile of a ship due to its ability to fill any civilian and military role while the Imperial I is limited to transport and combat duties: the Lunar at least being able to fill the transport role more comprehensively thanks to it's size. So versatility in roles outside of combat goes to the Lunar with little competition.Able to fill more roles for its parent fleet, and fill them more effectively in many cases.

In terms of construction and price, neither win.Both are relatively easy to build, but neither are especially cheap to construct, so neither have an edge.

In terms of speed (getting from point A to B, not combat speeds) the Lunar holds a clear advantage in Stellar travel, being 10x faster than an ISD in a straight line, but she is at a disadvantage when travelling between systems as warp travel can take decades. Draw overall, since both are superior in one area, although the Lunar's downfall is a big one here.

Service life is no competition. A Lunar is considered young if it is a couple of hundred years old while an ISD is lucky if it stays in service for more than a few decades. A Lunar will not need replacing for a VERY long time if not lost in combat, much unlike an ISD.

Scenario Battles

In most cases the ISD will be destroyed long before they even capable of engaging via torps or Nova Cannon blast, and will be able to do very little to rely to Lunar once she begins to engage at her maximum range. Even if the two where to fight at the ISDs optimal range, the Lunar has the edge in firepower and speed while the ISD holds no clear advantage. The Lunar could also quite easily just open the distance if the ISD doesn't make liberal use of its Tractor beams. A 1v1 is an almost certain victory for the Lunar.

The trump card the ISD has over the Lunar is the way the two fleets typically deploy.The Empire never deploys its ISDs alone if it can help it, normally being deployed in large groups (especially if they know what they are up against, they may well send an SSD with a sizeable escort of ISDs), while the Imperial Navy deploys its cruisers either in pairs or alone if a small escort of frigates and/or destroyers. In these cases the Lunar only holds the advantage if they can control the engagement range, but the greater weight of firepower means that between them they have a substantially better chance of hitting and damaging the greatly outnumbered cruiser. The Frigates and destroyers only really having range and speed over an ISD, being much more fragile and much less well armed. Of course torps and the potential for a Nova Cannon (or two) swing the fight determinately back in favour of the Imperial Navy without an SSD for support.A way ISDs could exploit their fleet advantages and avoid a crushing defeat would be to spread out, negating damage and increasing their chances of closing the distance with the Lunar and their escort.

Summary

Overall, the Lunar is the superior ship, but will struggle when confronted by vast numbers of ISDs.While the Lunar wins in many categories, and has much superior combat prowess, an ISD is quite capable of killing her with a competent captain and plenty of luck. A group of ISDs actually standing a respectable chance of damaging and killing a Lunar if they conduct themselves properly. An ISD is also much more reliable for inter-sector travel and is probably more comfortable to live in in many cases... although an ISD will never serve their masters as long as a Lunar willBut generally, the Lunar will win this comparison by a fair margin.

Last edited by CALiGeR190 on 28 May 2016, 19:09, edited 9 times in total.

Where's your Federation now?-Imperial Navy

Alpha Tester - Getting the game on its feetTechnical Tester - We had to get the balance right somehowCommunity Moderator - Purging spammers and maintaining the realmBFG Wiki Founding Member

Well basically TL;DR, they have the same firepower in term of regular weapons and a single ISD is quite capable of killing a Lunar once in range and they typically deploy in large groups. So Lunar may be simply overwhelmed.

Where's your Federation now?-Imperial Navy

Alpha Tester - Getting the game on its feetTechnical Tester - We had to get the balance right somehowCommunity Moderator - Purging spammers and maintaining the realmBFG Wiki Founding Member

Well basically TL;DR, they have the same firepower in term of regular weapons and a single ISD is quite capable of killing a Lunar once in range and they typically deploy in large groups. So Lunar may be simply overwhelmed.

No way. 3 macro shots on every ship and lance polishig. And they're done. Lunar has extremely tough armor and well protected bridge and nose, comparing to ships of SW.